The complex multilingualism (German and English professionally manually translated) is being continued – but solved differently in terms of layout. With that I most likely still operate the only multilingual IT-Blog worldwide. I hope you like the new design.

After my Asia-tour this summer I feel it is about time for this article. At the time of this article (09-2016) I have presented at more than 50 technical conferences around the world (Europe, Middle East, Asia, North America), from small with about 150 attendees to huge with around 5000 attendees. With that came a lot of good contact with many of the organizers.

Recently again I have been asked by a good friend and organizer how I felt about their conference (remember, a conference is never run by a single person) and what could be improved.Even though I did give an answer, I realize there is more to it and I promised to think about it a bit more. I decided to put this into an article and maybe some other organizers and attendees find it interesting.

Note: this article is based on the experience of my own and unlike a technical article there will hardly be one version of the truth.

Almost no conference starts “big”, let alone the “biggest”, so in the beginning, when establishing a conference, it will often be: “it has more attendees than last year.” - This is the first and most obvious sign of a successful progression. - side note: can a progression be positive without an increase of attendees?– Yes it can: For example the same number of attendees can be a different mixture in terms of job-background which may fit better to the topic of the conference and hence will be happier than last year’s attendees and hopefully spread the word for the follow-up conference which then finally will have more attendees.

Thomas La Rock, the PASS President at that time and Oliver Engels, PASS Chapter Leader at that time of German PASS at SQL Konferenz 2014 – the 10th anniversary of PASS Germany

"Your sponsors are your partners."

Also, do not forget the sponsors who arehighly dependent on the right mix of people – and not the pure numbers.

Having the right sponsors (by making them happy) will give you more flexibility in the whole setup from location, catering, speaker-invites and “goodies”. If you are reading this in preparation of a conference, bear this in mind.

The conference may not create profit, but, simply put “famousness”. Famousness that leads to more publicity. And this alone can be worth the effort for both a commercial as well as a non-profit driven conference.

What kind of fame could that be other than being “the greatest”?

A conference can be known for:

“The best party” – take undefeated SQLBits in the UK with its ever changing theme-parties.

“The cool(est) location” If the host-city is already famous, it helps a lot – if you pick a location that is somewhat typical or representative for the city. Some examples would be: SQL Saturday Cambridge, SQL Saturday Malaysia/Kuala Lumpur – in the famous Petronas towers, SQL Saturday Singapore – overlooking the famous Marina Bay and many others. Oh, and SQLBits again changes the host-city every year, making it a principle to show the variety of the country to its attendees and speakers.

“The most famous speakers” - here the simple rule is (usually): the bigger the conference, the more attracting to world-renowned speakers. Commercially-driven conferences can gain an advantage over other similarly sized ones here though, as they can provide a fee for speakers. If you are unsure start by looking for speakers that have been awarded MVP (usually a sign of a lot of interaction with public, which is exactly what a conference is about) and MCM or MCSM certified professionals (a good indicator of practical experience).

“Big(gest) choice of sessions” - the greater the audience you want to attract, the broader the range of topics should be. And nowadays everything is somewhat connected anyways, so even an administrator can be interested in certain BI or even Data Science topics. Besides topics also the level of the sessions is important for a bigger audience – from beginner level to advanced level.

“Cool prices and goodies” - At most conferences attendees have a chance to collect some goodies or even win high-valued prices. I personally have never consciously seen this being advertised specifically though. To what extent this influences attendees to come back I have no clue.

This one is more speaker-centric: a conference can be known among speakers for “being a great host” – by providing a special program for speakers. For example SQLSaturday Portugal (the first SQL Saturday outside US btw), is known for a superb crew of volunteers that even gave us a special tour to some famous locations around Lisbon – “private sightseeing tour”. At SQL Gulf we were invited to a traditional Saudi Arabian Dinner – before the self-made “sightseeing-tour”. Others bring you to traditional restaurants and so on and so on. In this area one can be very creative. But locality certainly does help.

“Having programmers and even managers from Microsoft/another vendorat location.” This slightly clumsy point is referring to the extra value that a conference can provide, when the actual programmers, program managers etc. from the targeted software are right at the conference. For most attendees this is the only opportunity to ever meet the people behind the product.The PASS Summit in the US is known for that. The close proximity to Redmond makes it possible. For other conferences it is much harder, but still quite a few times you can see some famous people coming from the headquarters. While size of the conference helps, having a strong connection with Microsoft definitely does help a lot if you are an organizer.

And yet there is more. It is something that is not measurable in numbers or can be put in simple words: I will call it “atmosphere” in an attempt to give it a simple descriptive name. It consists of the certain spirit that you feel at the conference. How the people interact, how attendees approach speakers and vice versa. It is hard to describe, but when you have been at several conferences you will sense the difference. Consequently this is also the aspect that can be influenced the least by an organizer. At least this is my feeling. By my observation the relative amount of volunteers are an indicator of a highly positive atmosphere. So maybe I should say: “volunteers are key” to a successful conference.

An ambitious crew of positive-thinking crew that puts its heart in the work for the conference can make a huge difference and give the conference the right impulse towards a successful conference with attendees and speakers wanting to come back.

And until someone proves me wrong I will leave this as a thesis :-)

- How do you find volunteers? Well, hopefully they will find you. ;-)

Besides obviously your local user groups it can help to talk to your local university’s technology/IT information department.

Small side note: As a university dropout (Japanese & British studies, for those who are curious – computer science, at least in terms of substance, was no good back then…) I would have never imagined to ever be giving presentations in a university auditorium. Yet this is exactly what I did a couple of years ago at SQLSaturday Rheinland/Germany at the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University and, only recently, in the framework of SQLGulf, at the Alfaisal University in Riadh.

Unfortunately that is as much as I can say about finding volunteers. During my travels I did realize that there can be huge differences between countries in terms of volunteers. Why that is, is hard to tell and certainly a complex matter. I did find the volunteers outstanding at the SQL Server Geeks Conference in India and also in Portugal in terms of sheer number and positive energy. If you ever make it there, you will know what I mean.

Now, I cannot deny that being at conferences is also “work”. Even if I love my job and look forward to presenting, I do have to justify it from business aspects as well. Luckily, being the owner of Sarpedon Quality Lab, I allow myself a few exceptions and a relaxed attitude towards conference-attendance.“You gotta love what you do, so why not work also just for the joy of it. At least sometimes…” Therefore, at most community-driven events the reason why I just like to be there is because I love the community, the people around me: organizers, volunteers, co-speakers and attendees. What’s more, there is little that gives such positive energy and boost like an actively interested audience does.

So the answer to the question as to which conferences I prefer would be: the ones with the best atmosphere und the most interactivity with the attendees. After all, the most precious thing we all have to offer is time. And a conference is a great opportunity to spend it with many people with similar interests.

View from the Microsoft office Singapore, the Location of SQLSaturday Singapore 2016

From the an attendee's point of view things like “many sessions to choose”, “well known top experts to meet”, “being able to interact with speakers and get answers to technical questions”, “connecting with fellow professionals” and “getting in touch with interesting companies (potentially new employers)” will probably be among the most important reasons.

View from the Microsoft office Kuala Lumpur, the Location of SQLSaturday Malaysia 2015

Disclaimer: If I have not mentioned your conference, do not take it as a negative. I have simply been at too many (over 50 conferences in more than 12 countries) and on the other hand certainly not enough to make a scientific statement. I tried to give only a few examples for certain criteria. I am not doing an overall “rating of conferences”.

But that does not mean that the certification is “dead” or even “valueless,” as has often been mistakenly referred to.Quite the contrary: it is almost more valuable because only those who made it through all the exams by 31 December 2013 may call themselves MCM or even MCSM today.What is “dead,” then, is the “program” – the certification track with the exams, and thus the possibility to obtain the certificate.

As I have been repeatedly asked over the course of the last years what an MCSM actually is, or a “Charter Member,” and how the MVP fits in there, I would like to try to elaborate on it here. Only I am not responsible for the illogical backgrounds – this was all Microsoft Learning.

Very conveniently, it still includes the “old” track “MCTS-MCITP-MCM.”This first certification series was replaced by the new track “MCSA-MCSE-MCSM” due to the development towards the cloud and the emergence of Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and for SQL Server Version 2012.

The standard certifications are preceded by a series of multiple-choice exams. You can read the exact exams here: MCSE: Data Platform

The MCM as well as MCSM required an additional (“additional” because an existing MCITP certification was prerequisite), so-called “Knowledge-Exam,” equally in multiple-choice format. However, the questions here were significantly more complex and practical.The decisive difference, though, is that the Master required a practical exam, i.e. the “Lab-Exam.” This exam was carried out at a terminal with access to a real SQL Server environment at which various problems were to be solved within a specified time period.

For the MCM SQL Server 2008, the allotted time was 5 hours and 25 minutes. For the MCSM on the basis of SQL Server 2012, tasks had to be solved within 7 hours. – I am not allowed to be more specific here.

Unfortunately, it was only from September 2013 onwards that it was possible to pass the exam for MCSM: Data Platform.In total, seven experts world-wide have successfully taken this opportunity.

That said, I hope this explains why the MCM certification is not valueless, and certainly not the MCSM certification: One of the original ideas for the Master program was to examine in such a way that one could be sure that the examinee who passed thus proved true practical experience in solving complex problems with SQL Server. And this experience does not get lost. Once you have experience in SQL Server 2005 Database tuning, Desaster Recovery etc. you can also rely on it in more recent versions as well.What applies to all product certifications is that the new features do not necessarily have to be known at this level.

(For me personally, this was the reason to also add the MCSM exam right behind: so I could prove my knowledge in SQL Server 2012 with the then new features AlwaysOn and ColumnStore.

– And of course to make up for the “disgrace” of having screwed up the Lab-Exam on the first go with 82% of the required score (because I erred in the time zone?). – And, quite luckily, I was successful at it – and this with no chance at a retry, as I passed it on the last day the exam was available :-): MCSM (Microsoft Certified Solutions Master) Data Platform on SQL Server 2012

MCA stands for Microsoft Certified Architect. This certification, which was at the top of the pyramid, was not so much a technical one – i.e. no further practical exams or the like were carried out. Rather, the examinee was required to answer questions from a committee, the “MCA Board,” on the implementation of real projects with SQL Server. Here, it was not so much about technique – the MCM already covered that part – but rather about other skills such as team leadership and concept competencies.

Trivia: The very first round of MCAs did not have any SQL Server Version in the title and was simply called „MCA: Database.“ There are 26 worldwide. (This number is definitely fixed, even if not all names were published.) In 2007, this title became the MCA: SQL Server 2005.

Trivia²: In the “MCA: Database“ era there was an “MCA apprentice” which was awarded to the first experts who made it through the “Ranger” program (the forerunner of the MCM program), but who due to their role could not sit across from the MCA Board – they subsequently became MCMs. (Thanks to boB Taylor and Assaf Fraenkel for this in-house information.)

(By the way, in addition to that the MCSE: Data Platform was “given” to all MCMs. – At that time, though, I had already obtained this title the standard way so I was not even tempted to skip exams :-)).

At this point, I can hardly disguise the fact that I am not particularly happy about any bending of value of the Microsoft certifications.

Unfortunately, these aspects are ultimately only confusing in the certification jungle. Previously, a “Charter Member” was usually awarded for the achievement of a certification within the first six months after the first appearance of a certification. (Sources: What’s the deal with Charter Member certificates?, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/program-membership.aspx )As a bonus for those who were the first to venture on these exams and passed them. – These “First Achievers” were definitely not able to rely on any braindumps – and we are all aware that the normal exams are easily achieved with all sorts of tricks.– I myself have achieved 6 certifications with the Charter-Member status up to now (and I am not counting the senseless MCSM). (andreas-wolter.com/zertifizierungen)

At the end of the day, the Charter Member logo does not have a significant background. Therefore, I hardly use it anywhere – for, who would like to explain, when asked, that a certification does not really mean anything.

For this rare certification I can neither give a logo nor an exact number of individuals who hold this certification.This certification had an even shorter lifespan than the Master. The Maestro was introduced in order to be able to offer a corresponding premium certification for the Business Intelligence part of the SQL Server, particularly the Analysis Services. Here you can read the official announcement of that time:What is the SSAS Maestros? There was not even an announcement of discontinuation.

One is entitled to the question: “What’s this got to do with it? – Itis not even a certification!”I agree. However, not everyone is aware of this, and it is still a welcome title at conferences or in projects. That’s why I will briefly explain what an MVP actually is or is supposed to be.

At this point, I would like to quote from the blog of a former MVP, Mitch Garvis:

“The Microsoft MVP Award is not for people proficient in their technology; it is for people who share their proficiency with community work, such as blog articles, speaking events & presentations, tweets, forums, and such.“ (Source: My parting words as a Microsoft MVP)

Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs, are community leaders who’ve demonstrated an exemplary commitment to helping others get the most out of their experience with Microsoft technologies. They share their exceptional passion, real-world knowledge, and technical expertise with the community and with Microsoft.“

“How to become an MVP?

While there is no benchmark for becoming an MVP, in part because it varies by technology and its life-cycle, some of the criteria we evaluate include the impact of a nominee’s activities in online forums such as Microsoft Answers, TechNet and MSDN; wikis and online content; conferences and user groups; podcasts, Web sites, blogs and social media; and articles and books. Each nominee's activities are compared to those of other candidates, and active MVPs receive the same level of analysis as new candidates each year.”(Source: Microsoft: Most Valuable Professional)

That means there is no standardized procedure as to who deserves this award, nor is there an exam.Neither are technical skills in the foreground here, and nor are they ever the reason for such an award. For technical knowledge, there are and were exams.Even if unfortunately there are no longer any practical exams since the discontinuation of the MCM program, the MVP is no replacement.

Quotes such as “He has been awarded the title ‘Microsoft Valuable Professional’ by Microsoft based on his technical knowledge” are thus misleading.

It is true that among the MVPs there are many real experts, but it is not the criterion. There are many certified Masters who do not have the time or opportunity to make their knowledge available to the public for free (this, too, is an aspect) – or they do make it available, but the deciding people do not hear about it, or there is a country-specific quota of a maximum of MVPs per topic, and so on, and therefore they are not awarded the MVP.

On the one hand, there are those who have been extremely active in the community for years, have been presenting at dozens of international conferences, have even been nominated, and still do not receive any award. (See cases like Mark Broadbent) On the other hand, there are also those of whom almost no one has ever heard, and who only with the MVP actually become known and as a result are in demand and become active. In the end, this is how it goes with many awards. There will never be an absolute fairness. – An award is no certification after all, and sometimes maybe it’s better to not take such all too serious.

Therefore, I can consider myself lucky that I became MVP in 2014 after having been active on conferences in Germany and as far as in the USA since 2009. (6 conferences in 2012, 11 in 2013, and then followed the MVP award in 2014)

Therefore, I can consider myself lucky that I became MVP in 2014 after having been active on conferences in Germany and as far as in the USA since 2009. (6 conferences in 2012, 11 in 2013, and then followed the MVP award in 2014)

In general, one can become an MVP if you are very active in the community of a product. Be it through assistance in online forums, giving presentations without fee at various conferences, writing comprehensive blog articles, or other forms of commitment that are helpful in some way to the product line or to other clients. This does not require a specific level of technical complexity but rather the continuity – which is, from my personal experience, quite time-consuming. This is why I am happy for anyone who is acknowledged by Microsoft with this award.However, there is no guarantee to be recognized at reaching a specific amount of commitment. And to set as one’s goal to “become MVP” would not do justice to the original idea behind the award.

What I can say from my own knowledge of the Master and MVP community is that Masters usually possess a broader spectrum of technical knowledge and, as required in the exams, they are very well-versed in several areas of database engine (for example Backup & Restore + Indexing + Fulltextsearch). As for MVPs, there seems to be a higher specialization in exactly one topic (For example IndexingorHighAvailability). This is really my personal impression and not evidenced by any surveys or exams, and it is not meant to sound negative. :-)

To me, it is the insight at an early stage into future developments of SQL Server long before its release, and the direct contact to the product team. To be able to have open discussions with Microsoft developers, and in my case especially also the Security team – under NDA and with relatively few restrictions – is an invaluable bonus.

I am very happy about this second recognition of my activities for SQL Server, especially for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) and particularly of the PASS Deutschland e.V., - the association of German Chapters.

2014 I have been at 10 conferences and 6 regional chapter group-meetings where I held 15 presentations altogether as well as 2 PreCons. Furthermore I gave 2 PASS Essentials on the topic of Performance Monitoring.

It started with the German SQL Server Konferenz, which PASS Germany organized together with Microsoft Germany, where I presented In-Memory OLTP with XTP (Hekaton) in SQL Server 2014. (2013 I presented the In-Memory Engine of SQL Server already for the first time ever in public in Germany.)

Added to that I have been at several special Microsoft-conferences, like the Microsoft Technical Summit. Many thanks at this point to Microsoft for their confidence, to give me such opportunities to pass on my knowledge at such events also especially to partners.

- All in all, since 2009 I have been at 39 conferences with altogether 53 presentations – without the Usergroup-presentations

Many thanks to Anna Feth, Birgit Huebsch, Isabell Fischer und Katrin Letzel, my MVP Community Program Managers for their ongoing support and also all other colleagues at Microsoft with who working together or exchanging ideas has always been a joy and support for me: Bernhard Frank, Daniel Weinmann, Denis Mrksa, Florian Endres, Frank Seiwerth, Georg Urban, Guido Jacobs, Hanna Altheimer, Heike Ritter, Lars Schmoldt, Martin Rinas, Martin Vach, Olivia Klose, Patrick Heyde, Ralph Kemperdick, Stephan Pepersack, Thomas Palm, Volker Hinz, Werner Gauer from Germany, and from the US above all Jack Richins, Jos de Bruijn and Nadav Helfman from the Security respectively In-Memory-Engine Team. Last but not least I also want to say thank you to my colleagues from PASS Germany for another year of excellent teamwork: Oliver Engels, Klaus Höltgen, Kostja Klein, Tillmann Eitelberg from the headquarter, Christoph Muthmann as my Co-Chapterleader, Niko Neugebauer as well as all other chapter leaders where I was welcomed as a guest over the last years.Thank you everybody.

(en)Yesterday, on 1 April 2014, I got great news:I have been awarded with the MVP Award by Microsoft (MVP=Most Valuable Professional) for my contributions to the community (click here for MVP profile).

I am very excited about this recognition of my many contributions to conferences, usergroup meetings, and other activities!

In fact, since 2009 till today, I have appeared as a speaker in 27 conferences, speaking on different SQL Server topics from security to performance & index design to reporting services, and have given presentations in 34 usergroup meetings.

2013 saw yet another boost in my activities: That year alone I was speaker at 11 conferences, from Istanbul/Turkey to Charlotte/USA, and at 14 PASS regional group meetings (list).In 2014, too, I can already look back on 2 conferences and 4 regional group meetings (list) – with more to come: Portugal, England, and – hopefully it will work out – USA for the 6th time. :-)

Thus, I am participating in conferences to an almost similar extent as three other German MVP colleagues who have already been awarded, quite deservedly, the very award for their commitment to the German SQL Server Community PASS Deutschland e.V.: Tillmann Eitelberg, Oliver Engels – both of them in the chair of the PASS – and Constantin Klein who heads the Just Community e.V. and the .NET User Group Frankfurt, among others. – I am honored to be joining this illustrious circle!

This award is indeed a fantastic acknowledgement and incentive to continue – of course, this doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do so without this award, because the interaction with the community is in itself already an enrichment from which everyone is benefiting.

I would like to express my personal thanks to the following people who have supported my nomination to MVP in various ways: